Exercise incenting methods and devices

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatuses for receiving or sending verification that an incentee user has performed a physical exercise prescribed by an incenting arrangement, with an incentee user agreeing to perform the physical exercise in order to obtain a reward for a reward recipient, and initiating—upon receipt of said verification—a providing or provisioning of the reward to the reward recipient.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by one or more computer systems, verification that an incentee user has performed a physical exercise, the physical exercise being prescribed by an incenting arrangement wherein the incentee user agrees to perform the physical exercise in order to obtain a reward for a reward recipient; and   initiating, by the one or more computer systems upon receipt of said verification, a provision of the reward to the reward recipient.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising facilitating by the one or more computer systems, a setup of the incenting arrangement. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the facilitating includes receiving by the one or more computer systems from a device of an incentor user a request to establish the incenting arrangement including arrangement details, forwarding by the one or more computer systems, the request and the arrangement details to a device of the incentee user, and receiving by the one or more computer systems, from the device of the incentee user, an agreement to establish the arrangement. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the facilitating by the one or more computer systems of the setup of the incenting arrangement is initiated by the incentee user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the incentee user and the reward recipient are the same user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the verification includes a level of physical exercise. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the level of physical exercise includes physiological data of the incentee. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the physiological data includes at least one of heart rate information, energy information, body mass index information, respiration rate or body weight information. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the heart rate information includes an amount of time the incentee user has spent with a heart rate above a predetermined level and the energy information includes either a total number of Calories burned, or an amount of time the incentee user has spent with a metabolic rate above a predetermined level. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the level of physical exercise includes at least one of an amount time spent performing the physical exercise, a number of occurrences of the incentee user performing the physical exercise over a period of time, a number of footsteps, a total distance traveled, a level of force executed by the incentee user, and a speed achieved by the incentee user. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reward comprises monetary credit, the reward recipient is the incentee user, and said provision includes transferring the monetary credit from an account of an incentor user to an account of the incentee user. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the verification includes data collected by a monitoring device worn by the incentee user while performing the physical exercise. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving comprises receiving by the one or more computer system an automatic upload of the data from the monitoring device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the verification is received in a tamper-resistant data form. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors;   one or more mass storage devices coupled to the one or more processors; and   a plurality of programming instructions stored in the one or more mass storage devices and configured to program the one or more processors to:   receive verification that an incentee user has performed a physical exercise, the physical exercise prescribed by an incenting arrangement wherein an incentee user agrees to perform the physical exercise in order to obtain a reward for a reward recipient; and   initiate, upon receipt of said verification, a provision of the reward to the reward recipient.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of programming instructions are further configured to program the one or more processors to:
 receive, from a device of an incentor user, a request to establish the incenting arrangement including arrangement details;   forward the request and the arrangement details to a device of the incentee user; and   receive, from the device of the incentee user, an agreement to establish the arrangement.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of programming instructions are further configured to program the one or more processors to receive an automatic upload of the data from a monitoring device worn by the incentee user while performing the physical exercise. 
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a client device, exercise data from a monitoring device worn by an incentee user while the user performs physical exercise;   encoding, by the client device, the received exercise data in a tamper-resistant format; and   sending, by the client device to a server, the encoded exercise data.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the wherein the exercise data includes a level of physical exercise. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the level of physical exercise includes physiological data of the incentee including at least one of heart rate information, energy information, body mass index information, respiration rate, or body weight information. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the level of physical exercise includes at least one of an amount time spent performing the physical exercise, a number of occurrences of the incentee user performing the physical exercise over a period of time, a number of footsteps, a total distance traveled, and an average speed.